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Scotland’s last minute loss to Wales at rugby on Saturday was a huge blow. For the first time in a long time Scotland played like a team that knew what they were doing. With no fear and renewed determination, they seemed to have picked up their game under the stewardship of Andy Robinson, and for 70 minutes outplayed the Welsh in every part of the field. 10 points ahead with 7 minutes remaining and the game should have been ours, but a second ridiculous and unfair sin-binning cost us dearly, and in the final play the Welsh stole the match.
It’s not sour grapes. I’ve watched Scotland play at their most dreadful time after time after time, and in recent years even more so. We thoroughly deserved this one so to lose in such a fashion really sticks in the throat. The Welsh capitalised as one would expect but it was a farcical situation that brought it round. It really stuck in the throat watching a team celebrate that already knew they were beaten; I bet they couldn’t believe their luck.
Then to make matters worse, St. Mirren who were a goal up at home to Dundee Utd., managed to throw the game in the final minutes to get beat 2-1. I guess on the sporting front it was just one of those days.
Earlier in the day I headed up town early and collected the first of my recently ordered pairs of spectacles. When I arrived I found they were my “party pair”; thick, dark, and with a subtle hint of underlying leopard skin. They’re great and I’m looking forward to me new “daily wear pair” arriving on Tuesday.
I went for a scout about the pet store while I was in that part of town. They have a Giant Rabbit in and up for adoption. The poor blighter looked so alone just sitting there, but boy was he BIG! His ears alone must be about half a foot long. I also popped into PC World. Nothing much in there just now that I need so I bought Gail a new keyboard that she desperately needed for her PC—one Valentine’s Day gift and a happy wife.
On my way home I stopped into Nero’s coffee shop on Rose Street. I’m at a loss where to go for my coffee on a Saturday now because my old place—Great Grog—hasn’t actually closed for refurbishment as I thought. It’s closed for good and is soon to open as a restaurant. I was gutted. It was a perfect place for chilling out alone, reading the newspaper and doing some writing. Their coffee was awesome and their warm chocolate pastries second to none. Now I’ll have to go looking for a new place yet again.
Anyway, I drank a large cappuccino, wrote some notes and some skeletal poems, and read a copy of this month’s Skinny (my artist friend Ruth Nicol gets a great review for her work).
The rest of my day centered around two important things. I completed another draft of PAINT, a short story that I will soon try and find a suitable place for (I might have spotted a good market for it last night). It’s about a girl from Leith who has a penchant for socially relevant graffiti in dodgy places.
I also tore into my submission for the National Ten Minute Play Competition. It took me the latter part of the afternoon and most of the evening to get the first loose draft down. It’s 8 pages long so I’m going to have to test it out to see if a) it gets across the important background and emotions I want to convey, and b) it fits into 10 minutes.
However, as I was to discover late last night, the 10-minute play ISN’T ten minutes. I’ve no idea where I got that from or why, because the guidelines say writers should submit a one act, half hour play. The sitcom is a 20-minute deal as part of a larger programme, so maybe that’s why I got mixed up. Anyway, the upshot is more work on that’s to come.
I gave Gail her card and gift—she was delighted—and she handed me my new bottle of after shave. It’s a nice one, too. Only for parties this one so it will go well with my new party specs!
I read the papers extensively for most of the morning before settling down to write. A moment of weirdness while working when Ian Rankin tweeted he was doing his paperwork while listening to The Damned’s album, Damned Damned Damned—I had the same album playing on my PC through Spotify!! Literary minds must think alike.
With only Gail and I to feed I decided on a home-made curry for dinner. Not bad, though could have been stronger.
Into the evening and I spent most of it working on SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2. It’s now a complete manuscript and very cvlose to being ready. I still have to design a front cover and tidy a few things up but I think realistically I’m looking at a spring release. Maybe about April, I’ll let you know.
If you remember back to Fridays post I set myself a short list of work to get through over the course of the weekend; a sort of mini GDR if you like. Here’s how I got on with the lot:
- Write more on BACCARA BURNING – DONE
- Run through and edit PAINT – DONE
- Develop SILLY POEMS chapbook – DONE
- Develop EDINBURGH poems chapbook – NOT DONE
- Write 10-minute play, LETTING GO – DONE
- Develop 15-minute sitcom – SLOW
Peace out!
The Scruffy Dog Review – Winter Issue OUT NOW!!
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Freedom from the Mundane 
Sounds like a good weekend all round.